Cutts murder trial costs court more than $40,000

The aggravated murder trial of Bobby L. Cutts Jr. was one of the most expensive in recent years in Stark County, even by the pricey standard of death penalty cases.

Shane Hoover

The aggravated murder trial of Bobby L. Cutts Jr. was one of the most expensive in recent years in Stark County, even by the pricey standard of death penalty cases.

The Common Pleas Court incurred $43,483 in extra expenses for the 22-day trial, including jury selection. Those expenses included overtime pay for court staff, pay, meals and lodging for jurors, postage and copies. The number doesn’t include pay for salaried workers or the regular costs of running the courthouse.

“The lights are on, the place is open, staff is here,” said Court Administrator Marc Warner. “That’s why we try to break out requests specific to this cost.”

Most of the expenses stemmed from the number of jurors summoned for Cutts’ case. The jury pool for most capital cases is about 300 registered voters. The court called 800 prospective jurors for Cutts’ trial. That meant more mailings and more staff on hand to manage the jury pool.

While half of the jury pool was excused without ever reporting for duty, the several hundred who did were paid $15 a day each time they appeared at the courthouse. After 10 days of service, the jurors received $22 a day, Warner said.

When the jury spent four nights in a hotel during deliberations, the court paid for their rooms, and rooms for the bailiffs and sheriff’s deputies. The court also brought in a part-time employee to help copy documents and assigned an extra bailiff to supervise jurors.

“It’s just the cost of doing business for us,” Warner said.

By contrast, the court spent $28,912 on the aggravated murder trial of Justin L. Lucas in September. Fewer jurors were called and the trial concluded within 10 days, with jurors spending just two nights in a hotel.

But the court spent more than $16,000 in fees for court-appointed experts in Lucas’ case, a common expense but one the court didn’t have to pay in Cutts’ trial.

The cost for the aggravated murder trial of Edward L. Lang in July was similar to the expense for Lucas’ trial.

Costs weren’t limited to the court.

The Stark County sheriff’s office spent $130,408.78 investigating the case, keeping Cutts at the jail and providing security for the courthouse and sequestered jurors during the trial, said Linda Steiner, the sheriff’s fiscal manager.

Crime scene processing by the FBI helped the Canton-Stark County Crime Lab keep overtime down, said Director Bob Budgake, but lab staff worked 173 extra hours at a cost of about $6,000. Evaluating 242 samples for DNA cost about $5,000, or about 5 percent of the lab’s supply budget.

County prosecutors also spent extra time on the case, including weekends, said Prosecutor John D. Ferrero, but they’re paid on salary.

“It was something we wanted to be well prepared for,” Ferrero said. “They put in the hours.”

Cutts, who is appealing his conviction for the deaths of Jessie M. Davis and their unborn child, also got a bill for $19,631, most of it court costs associated with the trial. If that amount is ever paid, it would go to state and local coffers, with most of it directed to the county’s general fund.